Kabul, Afghanistan, 13 October 2023 — Just four days after an earthquake measuring 6.3. struck Herat, Afghanistan, claiming the lives of over 1,200 people, significant aftershocks and a major storm have caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the west of the country. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is scaling up its response in the affected areas, where 6 mobile health teams have already been deployed to provide emergency healthcare to survivors.
With more than 12,000 people affected by the earthquake across five districts of Herat, the IRC is particularly fearful for women and children. A needs assessment conducted by an IRC team deployed to the affected area within the first 24 hours showed that half of those who have lost their homes are women, while a second assessment carried out between 8-12 October indicated that 100% of girls - who face the highest vulnerabilities and risk of exploitation and abuse - are facing some sort of protection risk. In addition, almost 90% of people surveyed reported not having enough milk or infant formula to feed babies and young children. Two thirds reported having problems in feeding babies or young children.
In addition, over a third of the population in Herat is experiencing serious levels of malnutrition as the province is facing severe food insecurity. This highlights the precariousness of the situation in Afghanistan; conflict, economic crisis and climate have created a deadly combination and this week’s earthquakes are pushing the country into further turmoil.
Currently, nine IRC Emergency Response Teams, including six mobile health teams, are deployed to deliver humanitarian assistance in Zinda Jan, Ghoryan, Rabat Sangi and Injil districts of Herat province. Support includes the provision of emergency healthcare to people in the affected areas, as well as cash assistance and emergency supplies such as tents and blankets, as well as setting up water points and providing clean water to families.
Salma Ben Aissa, IRC Afghanistan Director, said,
“This string of earthquakes is yet another blow for Afghanistan, particularly Herat where over a third of the population is already malnourished. Displacement is a major concern, and the IRC predicts that the number of households affected by the earthquakes will rise dramatically as families make the decision to relocate to safer areas of the country.
“Afghanistan is enduring crisis on top of crisis; over three decades of conflict in Afghanistan, combined with economic crisis and climate change, has led to a deeply rooted crisis that has left 29.2 million people in Afghanistan in need of humanitarian assistance, triple the amount since before August 2021 and the highest number of any country in the world since 2020.
“Now, more than ever, Afghanistan is in dire need of funding and support from world leaders. The IRC has seen for decades what has happened when the cameras fade away and the aid workers here to stay, it’s vital that the International Community does not drive Afghanistan into a forgotten crisis. While the world’s attention is rightly trained on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, flexible funding must be made available to the organisations who are on the ground and able to deliver vital aid to the communities who need it most.”
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) began work in Afghanistan in 1988, and now works with thousands of villages across twelve provinces. As Afghanistan struggles to recover from ongoing conflict and natural disasters, the IRC works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects, provides safe learning spaces in rural areas, community-based education, basic health services to remote and hard to access communities, cash distribution provides uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities, and helps people find livelihood opportunities as well as extensive resilience programming.